Author Note: Sorry it's been a while but I've been quite ill, I'd like to thank all the people who Favorited and reviewed this story, kept me quite happy while not feeling so great. Hope you all enjoy this and please review.

Chapter 18: Social Experiment

Jester crawled to peered out the window towards the two ferries which now sat stationary in the middle of the water and had been, for a few minutes now. She looked up at Joker as he pulled a piece of paper and his phone from his pocket. He smiled at her quickly before he dialled the number and waited a few moments, she heard the strange dial tone as he called into the tannoy system of the ferries below.

"Tonight, you're all gonna be a part of a social experiment, through the magic of diesel fuel and ammonium nitrate I'm ready right now to blow you all sky-high." the Joker began as slight feedback came through the phone. He grinned at her as he continued.

"If anyone attempts to get off their boat, you all die. Each of you has a remote to blow up the other boat. At midnight, I blow you all up. If, however, one of you presses the button, I'll let that boat live." he looked out at the boats reading from the paper in his hands as he spoke.

"So who's it gonna be? Harvey Dent's most-wanted scum-bag collection or the sweet innocent civilians? You choose." he cheered like he was the host of some kind of twisted game show.

"Oh, and you might wanna decide quickly because the people on the other boat may not be quite so noble." with that last word he hung up and stuffed the phone back into his pocket. He turned to Jester and held his hand out to her, she took it and he pulled her to her feet roughly.

"Now we just gotta watch the show! We have 25 minutes to midnight, any bets on what time they will blow each other up?" laughed Joker as positioned himself behind her wrapping his strong around her waist and resting his chin on her shoulder.

"I say they will leave it till about 5 minutes to midnight then the civilians will blow up the prisoners," said Jester as she snuggled back into him.

"Hmmm, well I hope it doesn't take that long, but then again I'm sure this won't be our only entertainment tonight," he said running one hand up and down her side.

He moved away from her and stared out the window. His movements turning to that of a caged lion. He continued to pace up and down the window slowly as she turned and made her way to the other side of the building. She looked down at the floor where a pair of binoculars had been left, she bent and picked them up and peered across at the building opposite. Just below her on the roof of the other building was a swat team of police officers and someone else that she assumed to be Gordon.

"There is a swat team assembling on the roof of the other building" she called out to Joker, but she was met with silence, she turned to see that he was still pacing. She wondered if he had heard her but decided not to bother repeating herself, she continued to watch the officers. Gordon picked up his own binocular and for a second she thought he was looking at her but of course, he wasn't she was higher than his line of sight. He must have been looking at the floor where the boys and the hostages were. As she watched something on the corner of the roof caught her eye.

"The Bat's there too now" she called and Joker let out a loud cackle.

"Brilliant, now it really is a party," he said still laughing.

"I'm sure Bats will be here any minute. Jester, I want you to go to the next floor up, kept watch and kill any cops you come across," he said as his pacing stopped and he turned to her.

"But I want to stay with you" she said simply as she dropped the binoculars to her feet and walked over to him, her boots clicking slightly on the floor.

"Go!" he said sternly and she cringed at his voice, his face softened but he did not speak simply turned his back to her and continued to stare out the window.

She moved slowly away heading towards the rickety ladders leading up to the floor above. She looked up at the boards and scaffolding above, the building was still under construction on the higher floors. Her mind did not think of such fear anymore, not since Jack had bulldozed his way into her life. She did not fear her own death as she once did. The only thing that scared her now was losing him, not being around him every day. She looked back at his purple-clad back as she climbed up the ladder until she lost sight of him. She pulled herself up onto the boarded floor and stood. The floor was simply scaffold boards around the edge of the room and across the middle, leaving large gaps so that she could see down onto Joker's level. She giggled as she heard a large thump on one of the floors below, no doubt the Bat was crashing the party, she skipped her way along the bouncy flooring to stare down at Jack below her.

She stood directly above him and laughed, he looked up and gave her a bemused looked.

"What's so funny Jester!" he asked and she laughed again.

"I was just thinking if you were a girl, I would have a perfect view down your top from here," she said bending over to look at him better.

"Really well I have a perfectly good view up your top right now," he said smirking slightly and she mocked surprise and pursed her lips at him.

"By the way, I think Bats just crashed your party," she said as she moved away to look out into the open expanse in front of her. Only a few of the enormous windows had been fitted, leaving huge expanses open to the air. The urge to jump hummed in the back of her head as she looked over the edge.

"There's that voice, jump, just do it! Do IT!" she said to herself as she laughed madly.

"Not so much the urge to jump something more, something deeper" she whispered as she dangled a foot over the edge of the open window, the winds whipping her hair around her face. She heard him move on the floor below and she tore herself away from the open window and move along the board further.

She heard an enormous boom from below, and she pulled her sword from its sheath holding it in front of her stiffly. She stood stock still as she watched a few swat team police officers repelling down the side of the building. One lost his footing on the open window and fell into her room. He didn't notice her as he unclipped his harness and began to stand, she lashed out hitting him so hard in the shoulder his arm was sliced from his body and went flying back out the window he had just entered. If Jester hadn't been mad before she had now hit the point of no return, for a second she stared at the bleeding man, the place were his arm had been was spitting blood and she laughed. She laughed and laughed. The sound of a chainsaw so loud in her brain she could hear nothing else around her, the rest of the swat team continued down the building unaware of the peril their colleague was in.

Her mind was so loud and manic as she wielded the sword over her head and bore it down upon the man over and over again. A few times it bounced off his body armour but soon he was nothing but a pile of blood and severed limbs. Her face was splattered with blood and she grinned like a madman at the sight, her mothers screams terrorising her mind.

She rushed over to the open window and looked down to where the swat team had just abseiled. She pushed her sword back onto her shoulder sheath and made her way back towards where Joker was. He was still pacing up and down and she watched him from above. There was more noise coming from below as the remaining swat team entered the building. She stared down at him as the Rottweilers began to bark loudly.

"Ahh, you made it. I'm so thrilled," said Joker to the new person. Jester moved her position to see the person more clearly. The Bat was walking towards Joker slowly and Jester readied herself, as the dogs began to growl. The floor board below her creaked loudly but she ignored it as she continued to watch through the gap in the floor.

"Where's the detonator?" Batman demanded and Joker snarled silently.

"Go Get Him!" he said and the three dogs launched themselves at the Bat.

There was a very loud crack and suddenly Jester was falling through the middle of the building. The floorboard had collapsed under her and she was now falling down the un-finished elevator shaft, that ran the entire height of the building. Desperately she grabbed onto the first thing she could find, the enormous steel girder that ran up the shaft moaned at her sudden weight but held firm. The wind was knocked out of her at the sudden stop she panted as she tried desperately to climbed back up the pole. Joker might need her. She stared as the three dogs flew past her and down into the darkness below, having been pushed from the floor above. She managed to catch her leg out as she moved down stopping herself on a board. Quickly she moved her footing and pulled herself free of the pole and onto solid ground, her sword slipped from her shoulder and she cursed as she heard it clang against the metal framework on its decent.

She was two floors below Jack now and badly beaten. She needed to get back up there and fast. She pulled her gun from her pocket and loaded it. Before she ran off through the building towards the stairs. The pain of her battered body far from her mind. She weaved her way through a few cops before one tried to stop her, she sidestepped him quickly.

"Its okay Miss we know you are a hostage we are here to save you," said the officer and she looked at him strangely. They must have worked out that the hostages were the clowns and now he thought she must be one.

She couldn't help the laugh that exploded from her and the officer stared at her strangely as she bent over in hysteria. Before her laughing stopped abruptly and she raised the gun and shot him in the eye. His face exploded and she was moving again before his body hit the floor. She kept herself low as she moved quickly through the chaos around her. She reached the stairwell and began her assent but was soon blocked off by some debris of bricks and other building materials. Swearing she pushed her self into the floor below, now even further away from Jack than before. She heard a noise behind her and turned quickly and shot the officer in the face before turning back. She hurried around the floor looking for anything to help her get up to him. There was nothing and she made her way to the open window. She peered out, hanging over the violent drop. She could see him a few floor ups standing above the Bat. The Bat was on the floor a pole over his throat as Joker spoke to him with words she could not hear.

She looked up and down the window wondering if she had the ability to scale the building to get to him. She had the strength that was for sure it was strange what love could do but right now she felt she would do anything to get to him. She looked back out to the water but both ferries were still intact, she looked back to Joker who had pulled the detonator from his inside pocket as he held the bar down over Batman's throat with his arms. He said something to the Bat but then Jester's world fell apart as the Bat grabbed Joker and threw him from the building.

"NO!" Jester screamed as she watched him fall past her, laughing like the madman he was.

"NO!" she screamed again, her eyes filled with tears and her heart filled will rage, she would kill the Bat because he killed her Joker.

Joker stopped just as he was about to go out of view and she looked up and the Bat began to pull the line, that had saved the Joker's life. She shook the tears from her eye and looked on in disbelief, why would he save the Joker.

Slowly he pulled the Joker back up to his level. Jack winked at her as he passed by and she smiled slowly. She heard Joker grunt as the Bat secured the line and stood to look at the upside down, grinning face of the Joker.

She strained her hearing but she could barely make out what Joker was saying over the wind that was wiping through her hair.

"This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object"Joker's voice drifted through the wind to her and she felt her fears loosen their grip somewhat, he wasn't dead. The wind was loud and she only caught small amounts of his words, playing like a broken CD on the wind.

"Until they get a good look at the real Harvey Dent and all the heroic things he's done" his words were louder now and she watched as he swayed somewhat in his suspended spot. His ankle was probably broken from the sudden stop when the Bat had caught him but he didn't seem to notice the pain or even care.

"You didn't think I'd risk losing the battle for Gotham's soul in a fistfight with you?" Joker asked loudly and Jester grinned, he had never told her his full plan but she had theorised along the way. The wind picked up again and she lost their conversation again.

"I took Gotham's white knight and I brought him down to our level. It wasn't hard. See, madness, as you know is like gravity. All it takes is a little push" she made out his voice again, though by now she was sure she could make out his voice in a crowd of shouting people. She watched as he swung himself backwards and laughed loudly. The Bat was on the move and within seconds a swat team had taken his place their guns trained on Joker.

Jester turned quickly to find her way to Joker, but came face to face with the barrel of a gun.

"Drop your weapon!" shouted the officer and she laughed.

"I said drop it!" he shouted at her again and for a split second she contemplated fighting it, but she would definitely be dead before anyone else and she wanted to see Joker again. So reluctantly she dropped her gun and raised her hands above her head. She didn't hear their words as they cuffed her and read her rights. They led her down and out of the building. The bodies of the goons filled the floor and she doubted if many had survived but she didn't care either way. She laughed as the officer restraining her shunted her into a caged van. He pushed her into a cell within the van and shut the door with a resounding bang.

Jester sighed as she stared around at the tiny cell she was locked in, it was no bigger than a toilet cubicle. She listened as the van door was opened again and she heard a familiar giggle, the cubicle next to hers was opened and shut behind someone.

"Is that you gorgeous?" asked his muffled voice through the wall.

"Sure is sexy" she replied happily.